Iraqi troops launch offensive against last IS enclave

Mosul (Iraq), June 18: Iraqi forces on Sunday began their offensive in the besieged Mosul city, the last enclave of the Islamic State in Iraq's most important city to fall into the hands of the terror group.

The last stage of the military campaign includes personnel from Iraq's anti-terrorist forces, the Federal Police and the army, with support from the international coalition, the joint operations commander, Abdel Amir Rashid Yarallah, was quoted as saying by Efe news agency.

Troops raided the Old City after Iraqi artillery and aircraft belonging to the US-led coalition attacked the al-Farouq area, the operations statement said.

The Old City is the most populated part of Mosul and 100,000 civilians are still trapped inside, according to estimates from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

For several months there has been no food or medical supplies in the area due to the siege imposed on the IS.

The neighborhood is characterized by narrow streets, which armored cars, used in other areas of the city already freed by Iraqi forces, cannot enter.

The area is home to the Al-Nuri Mosque, an iconic spot for the IS, as it was the site where group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed in June 2014 the caliphate he imposed on territories that the group had conquered in Iraq and Syria.

The offensive against the IS in Mosul began in October. It lasted until January in the neighbourhoods east of the Tigris River, and a month later, troops began their assault on the western half of the city.

Since the beginning of military operations, at least 819,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of the fighting, according to calculations by the Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

According to statistics from the International Organization for Migration, 192,174 people have already returned to their homes in the eastern half of the city and in the localities close to Mosul.

New Delhi, Aug 17: Despite the ongoing Doklam crisis, the most serious military face-off between Indian and China in three decades, the Indian government has no plans to single out the investment prop ..

Barcelona Spain Aug 18: Spanish police on Friday said that they killed five people in the town of Cambrils to stop a second attempted van attack after an earlier one in Barcelona that claimed the liv ..

New Delhi, Aug 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday listened to ideas of over 200 young entrepreneurs for transforming the country and said that every citizen has to contribute to creating a N ..

Kolkata, Aug 17: India pacer Mohammed Shami on Wednesday sounded ecstatic after their historic 3-0 Test whitewash of Sri Lanka, saying the team is eager to continue their rich vein of form going into ..

Kurnool, Aug 17: The Actor cum politician Nandamuri Balakrishna was caught distributing money to the voters on Wednesday while participating in the poll campaign of Nandyal Assembly constituency in Ku ..

New Delhi Aug 17: A relief for vehicle drivers.
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry had issued a statement today stating that "From September 1, one lane at all toll plaza of national highways w ..

Kochi, Aug 17: Bollywood actress Sunny Leone on Thursday took Kerala's Kochi city by storm. Thousands swarmed the streets, disrupting traffic, as the Canadian-born came calling to attend a function.
..

San Francisco, Aug 17: A variant of the notorious disk-encrypting ransomware -- detected as 'Mamba ransomware that hit organizations last year -- has made a comeback globally, including in India, medi ..

Medak Telangana Aug 17: A student has created a record.
Bheemari Baswaraj, a mountaineer of P Mandapur village of Chinna Shankarampet Mandal in Medak district, has successfully climbed the Mount Kili ..

New York, Aug 17: Women who work in night shifts may be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer, as artificial light blocks a hormone that plays a key role in suppressing growth of its tumour ..

Toronto, Aug 17: If you want to curb that urge to splurge, putting your smartphone away may help, as touchscreen technology is behind people indulging in guilty pleasures when shopping online, researc ..

Mumbai, August 11: Bollywood Bads Shah's Shahrukh Khan's recent flick 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' didn't the success at the box offices. Keep aside of his film disaster, he is planning to do another flick w ..

Hyderabad, August 04: Nandamuri Balakrishna is now enjoying the Paisa Vasool Stumper Teaser success, here is the news he is is going to take a risk this time. His Paisa Vasool is releasing on Septembe ..

Hyderabad, August 02: Tollywood Actress Anushka Shetty, who is got an immense craze in the world with the epic film Baahubali has reportedly signed to perform a special song in her flick, According to ..

Hyderabad, Aug 02: Rajamouli had a great craze in Telugu film Industry and he is the only director who had no flops in his career. The films 'Bahubali' and 'Bahubali 2' have spread his reputation acro ..

Hyderabad, Aug 01: We knew that Pawan Kalyan said that from October onwards he will be in active in politics. The actor is doing the film with Matala Mantrikudu Trivikram, the film shooting has comple ..

Hyderabad, Aug 01: Niveda Thomas had a good recognition in Tollywood film Industry. The movies of Niveda 'Gentleman' and 'Ninnu Kori' were lined up as block busters at the box office. By this, she got ..

Hyderabad, July 28: Krishna Vamsi is one of the few directors in Telugu who commands good fan following among the audience. Even though he is not delivering hits these days, his fans believe that he ..

Hyderabad, July 27: Tollywood Baahubali Prabhas Upcoming Flick 'Saaho' under the Direction of Sujith Reddy.Till now there is no clarity on the Heroin. According to the buzz, If rumors are anything to ..

Hyderabad, July 27: Tollywood Actor Sai Dharam Tej, who has been in tremendous form has been busy with the ongoing project 'Jawaan'. According to the latest buzz, Director Maruthi said to have prepare ..

Mumbai, July 27: Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, who will be seen opposite Shah Rukh Khan in their upcoming "Jab Harry Met Sejal" says romancing the superstar was quite easy and that he can even rom ..

New Delhi, July 24: Filmmaker Soundarya Rajinikanth, who is directing her brother-in-law Dhanush in the upcoming film "VIP 2 - Lalkar", says talent matters in the world of showbiz regardless of the ba ..

Mumbai, July 22: Actress Kangana Ranaut, who started the nepotism debate by labelling filmmaker Karan Johar as its "flag bearer" during his chat show, says she found the open letter by her "Rangoon" c ..